Australia AUSTRALIA 2022 - Sheldon Riley - Not The Same

[escYOUnited]

I was told at six years old
They'd avoid me if my heart was cold
Found it hard to talk and speak my mind
They'd never like the things that I would like

'Cause you're told to play, but you're not the same
As the other kids playing the same game
Tried to jump on in, but they push away
So far away

I'm not the same, no
I'm not the same, no

Years go by, I tried and tried
My father asked if today I smiled
I said, "Yes I did", but that's a lie
Oh, I always tell those lies

And you run and hide, hide the break inside
Do you realise that the light shines bright?
Through those, oh, who broke inside

I'm not the same, no
I'm not the same, no
I'm not the same, no
I'm not the same, no

'Cause you never want to be a kind of person
You can work it for those ones who cannot word it
Because you've been the kind of person who felt this pain
Yeah, I felt this pain

So you're gonna leave the pain and find another way to make yourself another game
Maybe one for all to play
'Cause it's not just me who's not the same
We are not the same

I'm not the same, no
We are not the same, no
We are not the same, no
We are not the same, no​

 

[PolarFoxxie.]

Can't wait to quote some people's posts after Eurovision final.

 

[Mrlazzyjazzy]

His outfit is all white. Looks like they're definitely lightening up the staging!

 

[Zeus]

I liked his darker outfit tho. Makes it more magical and fits the mask better.

 

[PolarFoxxie.]

I also prefer dark outfit, but it all depends on lights and color of background.

 

[Preuss]

His outfit looks incredible and his vocals sounded flawless. When the bridge kicks in, you see the lights start flickering, which is what I wanted. Building up to the moment when he'll take off the mask. And it looks like you can see his eyes and face more with the mask he's wearing now, which is definitely good

Let's see how the camera work is for this one, but Sacha's on board and she's usually good with the camera work so... I think Australia's off to a good start

 

[Mainshow]

The "Meet & Greet" interview with Sheldon has been absolutely entertaining. It´s great to listen to him.. how we talk, chat and hear the stories behind his song as well as why he changed his outfit:

Eurovision Song Contest - ESC2022 Meet & Greet - AUSTRALIA - 02/05/22 - Video - RaiPlay

www.raiplay.it

I think I´ve spent more time watching this interview than listening to his song but oh well, Sheldon is a great and talented artist. He even sang a tiny bit of Amy Winehouse´s "Back To Black" - it´s worth watching, for sure!

 

[12Pointsgoto.....]

I love the lighting, but I am not a big fan of the dress/costume. I preferred the one form the NF. But it definitely looks great. I think it is funny that at this point the best stagings will have to cover the kinetic sun, because the random hole in the quality of LED's in the background just looks weird. I am quite happy and impressed with the staging.

 

[midnightsun]

I don’t know whether I prefer the black or white outfit. The darker matches the song better but the white is so beautiful, empowering (while the black is more sad… also black outfits doesn’t score that well with the juries).

 

[Mainshow]

I don’t know whether I prefer the black or white outfit. The darker matches the song better but the white is so beautiful, empowering (while the black is more sad… also black outfits doesn’t score that well with the juries).

I think that I prefer the white colour right now - since he has to perform in front of an already very dark "dead sun".
Also, I really like Sheldon´s thought about it: He wrote the song based on a poem he came up with when he was a teenager ("freshly" diagnosed with Asperger) and the dark dress suited his state of mind well when he started to perform it but after getting used to it he can view his entry from a different perspective and receives it more as an "empowering message" and thus, he decided to go for a white costume.

I really like it that he´s so articulate and speaks about such things in his 20-minute-interview (other artists didn´t really scratch the surface and were quite boring to watch).

 

[Mrlazzyjazzy]

The staging and performance is good, but the song is truly awful. I think I was blindly supporting it as it was my home country but like there is no incentive for the televoter at home to vote for it. I'm hoping the jury will push him through. I just need a top ten finish so we can get invited back past 2023. They also need to stop Australia Decides and partner with Sony like we used to, we need a big label behind these artists so we can have expensive staging like Isiah, Guy, Dami & Kate. I wouldn't be mad if they brought back DNA as well. There has been a decline in the song quality since they dropped the partnership with Sony.

 

[Preuss]

The staging and performance is good, but the song is truly awful. I think I was blindly supporting it as it was my home country but like there is no incentive for the televoter at home to vote for it. I'm hoping the jury will push him through. I just need a top ten finish so we can get invited back past 2023. They also need to stop Australia Decides and partner with Sony like we used to, we need a big label behind these artists so we can have expensive staging like Isiah, Guy, Dami & Kate. I wouldn't be mad if they brought back DNA as well. There has been a decline in the song quality since they dropped the partnership with Sony.

Well, Kate was not signed with Sony and her staging was funded through a fundraiser lmao. Also, Montaigne's winning song was a DNA one. Australia will be invited back anyway, but I hope Sheldon can pull off a top ten finish in the end, and I think he will.

That being said, as much as I love Australia Decides, it was always really exciting to see who SBS would pick. I can't see Delta Goodrem ever doing Eurovision now... I wish she did it in 2016 when she was supposed to do it because Dami would've done Eurovision at one point anyway

I don't think SBS really got who they wanted to do Eurovision anyway though when they internally selected.

 

[Preuss]

That being said, the reviews of Sheldon's rehearsals have been great, so I'm excited to see the full performance this Thursday as we can get an idea of how well it can do

I think it will do well with the juries, but it's hard to predict really because I don't feel like it's exactly in the same gate as Australia 2015 to 2018. Like they're all pop songs but "Not The Same" is different

 

[Mrlazzyjazzy]

That being said, the reviews of Sheldon's rehearsals have been great, so I'm excited to see the full performance this Thursday as we can get an idea of how well it can do

I think it will do well with the juries, but it's hard to predict really because I don't feel like it's exactly in the same gate as Australia 2015 to 2018. Like they're all pop songs but "Not The Same" is different

Delta would've been fantastic. Delta, The Veronica's etc are in the right stage of their careers to do Eurovision but with the while Australia Decides and competing they never will. It doesn't seem like SBS supplies much funding to the acts if at all - Sheldon has said he's paid for everything himself. I just feel the longer we keep doing Australia Decides the more independent and unsigned acts we will have since more high profile acts are not going to want to risk losing nor being in the same calibre of acts who are mostly unknown.

 

[Preuss]

Delta would've been fantastic. Delta, The Veronica's etc are in the right stage of their careers to do Eurovision but with the while Australia Decides and competing they never will. It doesn't seem like SBS supplies much funding to the acts if at all - Sheldon has said he's paid for everything himself. I just feel the longer we keep doing Australia Decides the more independent and unsigned acts we will have since more high profile acts are not going to want to risk losing nor being in the same calibre of acts who are mostly unknown.

Yeah, SBS definitely doesn't have much money lol, at least not without Sony, which is probably why they only internally selected artists signed to Sony

I love Australia Decides. It gives a platform for many artists in Australia to showcase their music, but at the same time, the bigger artists won't do it. Then it's up to oneself to decide what you prefer. I see pros and cons with both (internally selecting and national finals)

 

[crashworld]

Based on my understanding, Australia's public support has always been inconsistent. They can do very well (ie. 2016 and 2019) and then they can do pretty bad (ie. 2017 and 2021, while there is an excuse for 2021). Not sure if that has to do with the quality of the song.

From the looks of things and the trajectory, I have a feeling Sheldon will likely do a Jessica Mauboy in the SF (rated highly in the juries side, but maybe ranging from 8-12 in the televote) and will be able to make it through safely considering this is the tougher semi and Jessica was in a weaker one.

 

[Fluke]

Not gonna say this has a low chance of qualifying, but there's certainly a risk that juries will succeed killing this like they killed Latvia and Albania in the first semi. It's obvious they're deliberately sinking anything that's fun or different and original, in favor of dull tuneless mumbling and guitar-strumming songs.

 

[Grinch]

 

[Courtzer]

Not gonna say this has a low chance of qualifying, but there's certainly a risk that juries will succeed killing this like they killed Latvia and Albania in the first semi. It's obvious they're deliberately sinking anything that's fun or different and original, in favor of dull tuneless mumbling and guitar-strumming songs.

Did you post this in the wrong thread Australia is going to be carried through this semi by the juries

 

[12Pointsgoto.....]

Not gonna say this has a low chance of qualifying, but there's certainly a risk that juries will succeed killing this like they killed Latvia and Albania in the first semi. It's obvious they're deliberately sinking anything that's fun or different and original, in favor of dull tuneless mumbling and guitar-strumming songs.

I am confused

 

[Zeus]

Looking at SF1 results (ballads and jury-friendly entries making it), I have confidence in Australia qualifying from SF2. He could easily be top 3 with the juries in SF2.